Papes and Pens
by writergirl0919
Summary: This is my version on what happens to Jack and Katherine after the newsies strike! Mainly JackxKatherine
1. Chapter 1

"With the strike settled I should probably be hittin' the road" Jack says as he turns away from the newsboys and walks towards home. Before he got two steps in, Davey comes up behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him, "Don't you ever get tired of singing the same ole tune? What's Santa Fe got that New York aint? Sandstorms?"

"Or better yet, what's New York got that Santa Fe aint?" Katherine asks, putting an arm around Davey as he consoles Jack.

"New York's got us, and we're family!" Crutchie says, wobbling his way towards Jack. He puts a hand on his arm.

"Didn't I hear about a strike getting settled? Papes for the newsies! Line up boys!" Weisel yells, wheeling in the papers for the day. "These papes ain't gonna sell themselves!" Davey and Crutchie leave and go line up with the boys to get their daily papes.

"Don't just stand there you've got a union to run!" Katherine tells Jack. "Besides, didn't someone just offer you a pretty exciting job?"

"Me working for your Father?" Jack exclaims, putting his hands in his pockets in frustration.

"You already work for my father." Katherine smirks, crossing her arms.

"Awe yeah." Jack mumbles, fumbling with his cap.

"And, you've got one more Ace up your sleeve" Katherine says. "Yeah? What would that be?" Jack asks, moving towards Katherine and sticking his chin up.

"Me. Wherever you go, I'll be there right by your side." Katherine says softly, grasping Jack's hand and pulling him closer.

"For sure?" Jack says, looking down at their hands. "For sure" Katherine mimics.

"Don't take much to be a dreamer." Jack says, bringing Katherine's hand to his heart. "All you do is close your eyes". He looks into her eyes, "But some made up world is all you ever see." Jack looks up to the sky. "Now my eyes is finally open, and my dreams: they's average size." He looks into her eyes, "But they don't much matter if you ain't with me." Jack slowly tucks Katherine's hair behind her ear and kisses her. Katherine deepens it by putting her arms around him.

"GUYS" Les yells, pointing to the two. The other newsboys yell and cheer around them.

"So Jack, are you in or are you out, huh?" Davey asks from the paper stand. Jack looks around at the boys as they shout encouragements at him, begging him to stay in New York. Jack runs up to the news stand and puts down his 50 cents. He grabs his bag and his papes, and heads out to sell his allotment for the day.

—

"Katherine?" Jack calls, knocking quietly on her apartment window.

"Jack!" Katherine gets up from her desk, comes rushing towards him, and opens the window so Jack can climb in. Before she has the chance to turn around, he kisses her softly on the lips. She smiles as she pulls away, and says, "Just the guy I was looking for! We have lots to talk about after what happened this morning with the strike ending and all!"

Katherine pulls him towards her couch as Jack moans in despair, he just wanted to come over for a warm meal with his favorite girl. "What is there to talk about?"

"Well first," Katherine huffs as she sits down. "You need to take the job my father offered you."

"But—" Jack tries to cut in. "Quiet! Now it's my turn to talk." Katherine says, clutching Jack's hand in her's. "All your time working as a newsboy, you always wanted to help out the kids. You got caught stealing for them! Those boys mean everything to you, and now to me, and the only way we can still stay financially strong is if you take my father's job he offered you. You owe that to yourself and to the boys." Jack sighed, and leaned his head back. "I know that you just want the best for the boys and you will take this job,"

"But—" Jack tries to butt in. "You will take this job!" Katherine urges, putting her arms around Jack's neck. "You will take this job because if you and I want to stay together, we'll need money to raise a family. And we won't be gettin that if we're trying to help out the newsboys as well. I know Crutchie, Davey, Race, and some others are wanting to get better jobs at the market or the diner, and I know they'll get them, but until wages start picking up for the newsboys, they're still counting on you and on us." Katherine looks into Jack's eyes. "Okay now you can talk."

"A family?" Jack smiles with sparkles in his eyes. He then furrows his brow and pulls her away, but still clasps her hand. "Katherine, doesn't your father hate me? You know I want to do everything in my power to help those boys, and in their best interest I should take the job. But, I don't want it to kill me because of your father breathing down my neck every day."

"My father isn't as bad as he seems, I promise. Although we never got along, he still loves me and wants the best for me. I am sure that once he gets to know you, he'll at least tolerate you. How could he hate someone I love?" Katherine says, leaning her head on Jack's shoulder.

"You love me?" Jack asks, pulling away to look at Katherine. "Yes, Jack Kelly you snuck up on me. I love you." She pulls in for a kiss. She makes a move to deepen it, but before they can, Jack pulls away. "Wait, I love you too Miss Pulitzer." He kisses her forehead and nose, making his way down to her lips.

"How about a dinner, at my father's place. I'll cook, and you two can talk through your problems. Then we'll decide if you'll go to work for him. Does that sound like a deal?" Katherine asks.

"Dinner? The Katherine Pulitzer knows how to cook? I must be the luckiest guy in Manhattan if I've got a girl as lovely as you who knows how to cook." Jack pulls her in, inhaling her scent and taking in the moment to save for a rainy day.

Katherine pulls away and walks towards the kitchen. "Here, take some bread back to the boys. You all have had a long day and could use a little pick me up." Jack follows her and stands behind her, wrapping his arms around her waste. "You're my pick me up" He whispers, before kissing her on the temple.

"Jack!" Katherine giggles. "This is something else we have to talk about. What is going on between us?" Katherine makes her way around the kitchen, gathering food and items for Jack to bring back to the lodge for the night.

"What do you mean! You just proclaimed your love for me!" Jack states, leaning back on the counter. "Did you change your mind?"

Katherine laughs, "No, I mean where are we? I love you and I want to be with you. But, this is new. We still need to grow."

"Well I guess the only thing to ask is, will you be my girlfriend?" Jack says, making his way towards Katherine, "Why of course" She says, pulling him in for a kiss.

"But really though. We need to figure each other out. What was your childhood like? What was mine like? What were your parents like? I know nothing about you! But, lets save it for a different time. I've got a story to write and you've got some mouths to feed." Katherine says, giving Jack one more kiss before pushing him out her door. "Also, next time you could just knock instead of climbing up the fire escape. My father is miles away and won't be at the door waiting to interrogate you or something."

"But what if I like the views?" Jack smirked, leaning against the door post.

"Oh shut up!" Katherine laughs, "I love you. Now go back to the lodge and make sure those boys don't starve."

"Love ya too!" Jack replies, tipping his hat to her before heading out.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack starts heading back to the lodge, thinking about his encounter with Katherine. _A family? Kids?_ It all seemed too far in advance for Jack to even think about, yet he feels deep down that Katherine would be the only one he'd want to share his future with.

There is only one problem. Katherine wants to know about his past.

Jack didn't have the best childhood growing up, which is why he became a Newsie. His parents aren't around anymore, yet he still feels a hole in his heart that was supposed to be filled by their love. Thankfully now it is mostly filled with the love of the boys, but he still yearns for their support. He knew that it would be tough talking to Katherine about it and that it is the next hurdle for them to jump in their relationship.

As Jack entered the lodge, the bickering and conversations of the boys helped pull him out of his mind.

"What did ya bring us Jack?" Les asks, taking the bag from Jack's hand. "Bread, cheese, soup?" Les said, after he pulled out each item from the bag. "Did you visit Katherine again?" Les knew, if it was food, it was most likely from Katherine. Especially if it was fresh bread. The stuff he bought from the markets were always the leftovers that didn't get taken the first couple days. Les took the bread up to his nose and started inhaling the sweet scent.

"Not so fast!" Race replied, stealing the bread from Les before he had a chance to take a bite from it. "Bread from Katherine is a treasure. We have to split it evenly so everyone gets a fair amount!"

Soon everyone started to come over, Crutchie and Davey helped Jack get dinner ready for the kids. As they were setting the table and warming up the soup, Crutchie knew he had to ask Jack what his plans are for the future. "So ye going to take up Pulitzer's offer of working for The World?"

Jack put down the ladle after mixing the soup and sighed. "I don't know Crutch. He almost costs us our lives. How could I go work for the guy who wanted to starve us to death so he had one more silk pillow to sleep on?"

"Well he's also Katherine's father, so you have to compete with that as well. How does Katherine feel about it?" Crutchie asks, pouring the water.

"She thinks it would be best for us and for the kids here if I take it. I just don't know how I'll be able to work for the guy even though he tried to put me back in jail and after he jacked up the pape prices. I know that he's Katherine's father, and she said that we will get together with him sometime before I start working there to iron out the details. I want to take the job because I know we could all use a little more money around here." Jack says as he starts putting the warm food on the table. "Even the meager amount Katherine has given us has helped us get enough electricity to heat up this stove here, helping us all stay healthier and stronger over the winter. Just think of what a few more cents could do."

"I guess now would be a good time to tell ya I got a job working at the diner?" Crutchie says, limping over to Jack to help with setting the table. "It's not much, but it's more than what I'm getting paid selling papes. These kids deserve more, and I know Davey is looking for a job as well. I know once his father gets better and the two brothers go back to school, he'll only have a couple more years before he is out and can make some real money. He says he'll still help out around here whenever we can. We're his family now."

"Crutchie that's amazing!" Jack says, punching him playfully on the shoulder. Before they could carry on their conversation longer, the boys came running to the table. Everyone had their own place, and everyone ate well. For the past couple weeks the boys have all been content, no doubt due to Katherine's contributions, despite being on strike for most of the time. Davey and Les joined, since it was a Thursday. Usually their parents only allow them to spend one or two nights per week at the lodge since the boys still have responsibilities at their home with their dad being injured.

"How long until you're back at school?" Jack asked Davey while passing him the bread.

"School starts up again in January and my father should be back at his job by then, so we still have four months left. Just in time for the snow!" Davey replies. Things had just started to get cold in New York, making the newsboys miserable most days. They have a collection of old blankets and clothes that the kids use as blankets, but winters in a cold lodge will always be terrible for the boys.

Dinner went on as usual, Race has been teaching Les all of his new tricks so there's always something to talk about. With the help of a good meal, the boys always chatter and mess with each other. In years past, with nothing but a couple rolls to go around, they would eat their meals in silence except the teeth chattering from the cold. With the help of the older kids, they cleaned up and got ready for bed. It was time to start a new week, and the boys needed to rest up before the early morning tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

"Maybe you should stop by camp? I know the boys all want to see you. We haven't gotten t see you since the strike ended and I think some of the kids may be in withdraw. Sound like a good idea?" Crutchie asks one day when Katherine finds him on the streets selling the daily news on her walk from work back to her apartment.

"Sounds great!" Katherine smiles, knowing that going to their camp will buy her more time with Jack. They haven't had any time alone together since the night he barged into their house and there's a lot they still need to talk about. Especially their pasts. "First I have to put my writing things away and then I'll be over."

"Will ya need someone ta escort ya?" Crutchie questions, always reminding Katherine how much of a gentleman he is. So much for being tortured in the orphanage.

"No, I'll be fine. I've lived in New York City my whole life! I know my way around these allies." Katherine says chuckling to herself. When she was little she used to run around the streets pretending she was on secret missions to fund breaking news and write about it in her journals. She has always been a journalist at heart.

"If ya say so!" Crutchie says, crutching off back towards the lodge.

While walking back to her apartment, Katherine thinks about what her days will be like these next couple of weeks. Her job has just started to pick up at the Sun, and she knows that soon her father will be asking for her to work at The World so he can keep an eye on her. She knows he hasn't trusted her since the strike started.

Ever since the strike has ended, things have been a bit intense. The Delancies are still out there and are still mad as ever them. Katherine and the boys tried to overturn their source of income! As she makes her way into the alley, she can sense something is wrong. Something about the air seems to be off, like someone is holding their breath. Before she can think another word, she hear someone jump out from the shadows and gag her. She tries her best to kick and scream as her hands are getting tied around her back to injure whoever is attacking her, but before she can, someone kicks her head and knocks her out.

—

With his imagination getting the best of him, Jack decides to follow the stains. With every step he takes, the stains seem to look newer and newer- like someone had got beaten up recently. As he turns the corner, he sees a pair of feet slacked with blood. As he inches closer to the person, he takes in the injuries. Scrapes and bruises trailed their way up the person's arms and legs, burns from ropes on their wrists. Bruises in the shape of fingers around their neck. When he looked at the face, he couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that nose. Those freckles. Katherine.

The next few minutes were a blur. Jack picked up Katherine as gently as possible and ran her to Jacob's Deli which was only a couple hundred feet away.

"Help! Anyone here a doctor? Or know of one?" He says, lying Katherine down on a table.

With a knife from one of the kitchens Jack starts to cut away at Katherine's skirts to see how badly she's injured. Thankfully the bruises end at her waste and start back up again at her thighs, so she still has her dignity left. He listens to her heart, still beating, but quietly. Jack covers her up just enough to keep her decent while Jacob comes to his side with a bucket of water and starts cleaning her off.

"Who would ever do something as cruel as this to a pretty gal like her?" He says, slowly wiping the blood off her arms.

"I thinks it's because she wrote the articles. In the papes. Ya know about the "children's crusade." She helped save my life, and now I must save hers." Jack says, grabbing a clean rag for himself.

Once they clean off the blood, there are just bruises left. The majority of the scrapes are on her backside from being dragged on the ground and the burns on her hands. Thank god her injuries aren't severe because the boys don't have enough money to go to the hospital.

"Jack." Katherine whispers, her eyes fluttering open. "What happened?"

"I was gonna ask ya the same thing!" Jack says, holding her hand. I start to trace circles on the back of her hand. "Do you remember anything?"

"I remember leaving my house to visit you and the boys at the camp and then the Delancies got ahold of me." Katherine says, getting a sense of her surroundings and taking in her injuries. "Um Jack? Do you have something I can change into? I see you've cut up my clothes."

"Here ya go Katherine," Jacob says, handing her a tablecloth. "It's the best we can do before you can go home. Why do you think the boys got to ya? The children's crusade?"

After helping Katherine wrap herself in the tablecloth she says, "Yes, but there's no need to worry. If I tell Father, he'll handle them. All he wants for me to be safe. Do you think I can still come over? I know something happened to me today, but I really think I am fine. I just got into a fight that I don't remember. I was in a lot of fights as a kid, being a tom-boy and all, so I recover quickly." She winces. "Okay, maybe I have a couple bruised ribs, but that's nothing a little time with my favorite newsboys can't fix."

"Sure Ace, just let me walk ya home first before going back to the lodge." Jack says, helping her off the table to her feet.

They both head out, thanking Jacob on their way for intruding, into the dark streets of Manhattan.

"Ace, ya really scared me today." Jack stops, looking Katherine in the eye. "I can't let anything like that ever happen to you again! I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Jack," Katherine says, grasping his hand. "You don't need to worry about me. I have taken care of myself for my whole life, I can take care of myself now."

"But you don't have to be." Jack whispers.

Before she can say another word, Jack's lips are on Katherine's, wiping away her train of thought. She deepen the kiss and wrap her arms around his waist. She really thought that she would never fall for a guy like Jack, and yet, she seems to be falling more and more deeply in love with him every single day.

They break the kiss only for the lack of air and continue walking on their way towards Jack's place hand in hand.

When they finally get to camp after stopping to get Katherine some clothes, the boys are already sitting down for dinner.

"Just in time kids! We just started playing some truth or dare to pass the time while the mush we're having finishes getting warm!" Crutchie says at the head of the table. "Wanna join?"

"Sure!" Katherine laughs, as she sits down next to Davey and Les.

"Davey just went so now it is his turn to choose someone!" Les says with an excited voice.

"Hey, Katherine. Truth or dare?" Davey asks.

"Ummm. Dare. I think I should probably start with something safe." I say, wondering what Davey has in mind.

"Ohh man, you can't say dares are safe! Go around this entire room and kiss everyone. On the lips." Dave says, with a goofy grin on his face.

"Comeon Davey give the girl a break!" Jack says, trying to let Katherine have a break after getting beat up in the alleyway.

Katherine brushes it off and slowly makes her way around the room, kissing all the guys on the lips. They are all just little pecks, but some of the boys got a little feisty and pretended to swoon or faint to attract laughs from the room. Even Jack's was a mere brush of the lips, but before she could pull away, Jack pulls her in for a real kiss.

"Ok. Romeo now it is your turn. Truth or dare?" Katherine says, her cheeks flushing as she sits back down.

"Truth," Romeo says.

"Why did you become a Newsie?" She asks.

"When I was a child, I was beaten a lot by my mother. My father was a decent guy, but my mom was the bad one. Unlike most kids nowadays, my mom was on drugs while my father tried his best to keep our family together. Then, one day I came home from school and I found my father face up in a pool of his own blood with my mother in the bathroom passed out drunk. I ran away got locked up in the refuge for trying to steal food for myself. Thankfully, Jack got me out. Then I found this job, and here I am today." Romeo says, avoiding eye contact as he tells his story. Everyone in the room was stunned, and Romeo wanted to move on as quickly as possible. "Jack, truth or dare?"

"Truth" Jack says.

"What is your ideal life like? Besides livin' in Sante Fe of course." Romeo says with a smirk.

"If it were up to me, I would live in a nice little cottage out in the west. But, I know it probably won't be up to me, so probably in an apartment in NYC with my wife and three kids. I will draw for a living and every summa we'd travel to the coast and relax. No worriyng about food or money, just worrying about what to do the next day," Jack says with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ace. Truth or dare?"Jack asks, looking at me.

"Aww, why do I always have to go?" I moan. "Truth."

"Because you're new around here! We don't know your deepest darkest secrets." Jack accuses. "What is it like being a Politzer?"

Katherine's eyes shift. She'd rather discuss this alone, but she figured the boys were owed an explanation as well. "Actually it is actually not as nice as you think. My mother and father had an arranged marriage, and my mother is not very happy about that. She always wanted to marry a barber shop owner, but my grandparents wanted her to marry rich, so they chose my father. My father, on the other hand, loved my mother so much and sometimes it hurt me to see him when he knew that my mother didn't love him. She died when I was nine due to problems with her heart. That broke my father. Sometimes he would get so mad he would lash out at me, but he never hit me. He just used some not so nice words. Thankfully, I went to a boarding school. That was when I learned that I wanted to be a journalist. I kept on hearing about all the wrongs in the world, and I knew it was my job to showcase them to the public in order to make things better. Like the paper strike. The strike is probably the best thing that ever happened to me." I say nervously.

"Well, I can guarantee you're the best thing that's ever happened to us!" Les exclaims.

After a while truth or dare teeters out, the food eaten up and the boys start yawning.

"Lets clean up, Davey you be in charge and make sure everyone stays in their own rooms. We don'e need Race and Spot getting into fights again." Jack says as Katherine starts stacking the old rusty dishes. Katherine and Jack do the dishes together, working together in silence. When they're done, Jack asks, "Can I walk ya home? You can't go out by yourself after the run in today."

"You're never going to let me go out again by myself are ya?" Katherine asks nudging him.

"As long as you're with me, I know you're safe, so I am never going to leave your side." Jack says. "Do you really think your father is going to be able to catch the brothers?"

"He's the most powerful man in New York! He's got eyes everywhere around this city. I'd be surprised if he can't find them within an hour." Katherine says as they make their way back to her apartment. They talk quietly to each other before kissing goodnight when they reach Katherine's apartment. "Don't forget sometime we have to get together with my Father. I'm going to talk to him about the Delancies tomorrow and then maybe this weekend we can get together and talk about getting you a better job."

"Okay Miss Pulitzer, anything to make you happy." Jack whispers, giving her one last kiss on her forehead before heading off back into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you all so so much for the reviews! Keep them coming, it keeps me motivated :) I don't really have much of a schedule, just when I feel like I have a solid chapter I'll post it!

"Is now a good time to talk about our pasts?" Jack asks the next day as he and Katherine sit on a rock in central park during her lunch break.

"Well, yes we should probably talk before I go and have dinner with my father tonight. I think he'll be cooled off by now after we used his printing press against him. He hasn't been the best since the strike. I know he means well, but I've always been a daddy's girl. If I ever disobey him, it takes some time, but he eventually comes around. The only think I am worried about is our relationship. Your name will definitely come up tonight and I know he won't like what I have to say about you." Katherine answers.

"What will you say?"

"That I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Even though we're only 18. My parents got married when they were 20 so I don't see why my father wouldn't accept you after a little pushing on my end. We're the same age my parents met!" Katherine says matter of factly.

"For sure?"

"For sure."

"So I can hold your hand in public now that your father will know about us?" Jack asks, taking her hand in his.

"You already do that!" She says, nudging his shoulder. "Now that you know about my parents, can you tell be about yours?"

Jack holds Katherine's hand in his, playing with her fingers as he thinks. "As with pretty much all the newsboys, my parents weren't the best. They loved each other, they just didn't love me. To them, I was a mere object. They never beat me, but they never showed love towards me. When I was seven I found them both dead at our house. I guess you could say New York sucked the life right out of them. I had no other family besides them, so that's when I found my way over to the lodge to work with the newsboys. Ever since I've been trying my best to help out around there. Most of the kids who were there with me at the beginning are grown up and moved on. As you already know, it was hard. It still is hard. We have to fight for everything, even if that means stealing in order to help out when one of us is sick or when there's no food to go around. That's why I got sent to the refuge. And why I'll keep going back if it means keeping the boys safe." Jack finishes with a shudder. "It was the worst experience but I don't mind hurting if in the end the boys are better off. They're my family now."

"Wow Jack," Katherine says, leaning her head on Jack's shoulder. "It must be terrible not having your parents around. Even though I only have my father now, he's the only family I've got and I don't know what I'd do without him."

"That's what Crutch and the guys are for me. Without them, I don't think I'd be living today. They've gotten me out of the pits of hell my life has been, and I know with out them and Sante Fe and now you, I'd be hopeless." Jack says with a sigh. "I wish we could talk more, but I've got some papes to sell and you've got some news to write."

As Katherine starts to leave, she asks, "Will I see you tonight? After dinner? We've both been busy with work all week so I feel like I never see you anymore."

"Meet me up at the rooftop at around 10:00. Is that okay? Do you think you'll be done bickering with your father?" Jack winks, hopping down from the rock and standing in front of Katherine. "If I'm allowed to hold your hand in public does that mean I am allowed to kiss you in public as well Ace?" Jack asks, tucking her hair behind her ear and tracing the outline of her jaw.

Before Katherine can answer, his lips are on hers, a short and sweet goodbye.

"Well, I better go now. I need to write two more stories before seeing my Father! If you want to see me tonight, you should probably let me go." Katherine says, laughing as Jack tries to steal another kiss.

Before they start another conversation, or worse, Jack kisses Katherine again, she runs off. Katherine can still feel Jack's kiss on her lips. "That boy will kill me one day." Katherine thinks. "He is all I ever think about and it's severely hindering my ability to think clearly!"

Soon it is 5:00 and Katherine starts making her way to her father's estate, wondering what to expect. Ever since she moved out over a year ago, her monthly dinners with him have just consisted of small talk. But now that the strike has come and past, she has a feeling she'll know exactly what this dinner will be about. Plus, she'll finally have an answer to the "Who you seeing now?" question. One that she's been regretting all month.

Just before Katherine rings the doorbell, my father's maid opens door. "Come in sweetie we are just about to start eating. We are having your favorite–Chicken parmesan."

"Yummy! She smiles as she hugs Mary, a longtime friend and maid of the Pulitzer family. Katherine steps inside to see her father seated at his usual spot at the dining room table.

"Are you hungry?" He asks as Katherine sit down across from him.

"I'm starved! I had a busy week at work. My boss is finally letting me write about things other than flower shows and ballets!" She answers as she starts eating her salad.

"Oh really? Even after what you did to them during the strike? You know I would have had you writing your own news stories if you worked under me before all of this business with the strike." Katherine's father says.

"Well if I worked under you, people would automatically know that I'm your daughter and I don't want that. The reason why I want to work someone else is so I learn to fight for myself. I have a byline so that people don't assume that I am rich and instead see me as a reporter wanting in on the scoop, or even better, think that I understand what they're going through and usually I do! If I worked for you I would not have enough experience and people wouldn't trust me. Plus, I would not get opportunities I deserved. Like the strike. If it weren't for me, those poor boys could have starved to death! I am not saying it is your fault, but I made a difference. A difference I couldn't have made if I worked under you." Katherine counters.

"I know sweetie, I just want to make sure you know that you will always have a job waiting for you if you lose your other one. Do you at least make good money?" Mr. Pulitzer sighs.

"I make enough money to support myself and then some." Katherine answers.

Pulitzer asks, "Speaking of the strike, how is that boy Jack Kelly doing? Does he like his job now that he's got his union?"

"We actually had a big fight after he found me in your office. It was so bad that I told him that if I were a boy he would be looking at me through one swollen eye." I say, chuckling to myself.

"What happened next?" Mary says as she clears our plates for the main course.

"I kissed him." Katherine blushes, knowing that they are about to get into uncharted territory.

"You did WHAT?!" Katherine's Father bellows.


	5. Chapter 5

Guys! Thanks so much for the reviews! I am so sorry for not updating in a while, but the reviews help me write here and there when I am busy, so keep it up :)

"I kissed him Daddy," Katherine says quietly. "And you know what? It was worth it!" Katherine says, her voice growing louder.

"Worth it? What do you mean by worth it?" Mr. Pulitzer spits.

"Well you know she is the same age you were when you married her mother." Mary interjects quietly.

"But Jack Kelly? He doesn't have any worth to his name! How will you survive?" Katherine's father grumbles.

"I make enough money for the both of us to live comfortably!" I exclaim. "Plus, Jack works. Under you I might add! If you're so worried about us not making ends meet doesn't that just criticize how much you pay your workers? Plus it doesn't matter how much money he makes. All it matters is that we love each other."

"I really need to have a word with him. How about this weekend? No man can go around messing with my daughter." Mr. Pulitzer mutters.

"Don't you dare do anything that will make him want to leave Dad! Because if he goes, I'm going with him, no matter what you say." Katherine huffs.

"Is he still thinking of moving to Santa Fe?" Her father asks, softening his tone.

"No, he knows that his family is here in New York. But if you give him a reason to move, he'll be on the next train to Santa Fe. We both will be." Katherine replies.

They wrap up dinner, and Katherine heads out, hoping Jack remembered about meeting at the rooftop. After an intense dinner with her father, he is what she needs.

"How ya been Ace?" Jack asks as I climb onto the rooftop.

"I had quite the dinner father. He wants to see you this weekend. You in? Katherine says, sitting down next to Jack.

"Well, if you're up to it I'm up to it!" Jack says, giving Katherine some of his blanket. "We're going to have to talk to him eventually, might as well get it over with sooner rather than later."

"Okay then I'll let him know we're coming. Father just has a little bone to pick with you. He doesn't appreciate that you almost shut down his paper, but he's happy that you'll make cartoons that the public enjoys."

"I figured. Eventually I get on everyone's good side." Jack winks, as they lie down to look at the stars.

"You really do Jack Kelly." Katherine says, resting her head on his shoulder.

"So it's a date then." Jack says, clasping her hand.

"Does a dinner with my father count as a date in your book?" Katherine chuckles. "If so, we need to sort out your priorities."

"Do you want to talk about what happened with your father?" Jack asks. "I know it must be hard without a mother. You only have one person to please. I on the other hand have no one to please, so I can do whatever I want. You, on the other hand, probably have the hardest person in all of Manhattan to please."

Katherine sighs, "No, nothing too over the top happened, I just always forget how tiring it is to explain my life to him. It'll be easier having someone on my side this weekend."

They talk about the upcoming meeting with Mr. Pulitzer until it got too cold for them to stay on the roof. Jack walked Katherine home, and then turned in for the night.

—

Jack jolts awake to groaning and crying a couple beds away from him. Crutchie is

having his nightmares again. They had stopped for a couple weeks now that he's been home, so it startled Jack awake one evening. Jack quietly gets up and walks to Crutchie, hoping to calm him without waking the others. Only he knows what Crutchie went through, thinking of how relieved he is that no one else has to go though what they went through.

"Crutch, wake up." Jack whispers, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up." Jack leans over him, trying again more forcefully. Crutchie flutters his eyes open, bloodshot and watering.

"Can we go?" Crutchie grabs Jack's shoulders and pulls himself up. His leg hasn't been getting any better lately. "I think it may be the only way to escape the nightmares." He grabs his crutch and walks quickly towards the kitchen, the only room not occupied by boys during the night. Jack follows, hoping to calm him down.

"Crutchie, sit down." Jack says. "What was in your dreams?" He sits besides Crutchie. The only thing that helped him when he had them was talking them through with Crutchie. Now it was his turn to be on the receiving end of things.

"You know that kids died in there. I never saw it happen, but I heard the stories. That's how they had enough room for me to sleep." Crutchie whispers, holding his head in his hands "I can't get their voices out of my head or their frail bodies out of my mind."

"Kids starving and with barely any clothes to wear. I saw it too, their eyes bloodshot and tired. Like they would never see sunlight again." Jack says as his voice cracks. "But now it will never be like that. And that's because of you and me and every boy and girl who wasted away in that rotten hell."

"When will they go away?" Crutchie asks, looking at Jack with bloodshot eyes.

"Never. They will just become more and more infrequent." Jack answers. "Do you really want to go to Sante Fe?

"I want to go to a world where no child has to go through what we went through and a world where I never have to see that place in my mind again."

"I don't know if that place exists. But Crutchie, the only way we can get close to it is to stay here and work. Work to create safe living conditions through cartoons and the extra money we earn and work through the nightmares." Jack says, holding Crutchie's hands. "You're my family, my brother. Without you, I don't think I'd be alive. You keep me strong. Together we can change the world, but only after we get some sleep."

Crutchie stifles a yawn. "The world can wait until tomorrow. Thanks Jack, I mean it."

"Anytime."


End file.
